Autoimmune diseases are generally understood to be diseases where the target of the disease is “self” or “self antigen.” Among the many types of autoimmune diseases, there are a number of diseases that are believed to involve T cell immunity directed to self antigens, including, for example, multiple sclerosis (MS), Type I diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis/juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JRA/JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in children and the most common cause of childhood disability (See, e.g., Cassidy and Petty, Textbook of Pediatric Rheumatology, 4th Edition, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co., (2001)). JRA/JIA is considered to be an autoimmune disease, although it pathogenesis is not well understood (e.g., an inciting antigen(s) has not been identified).
When a patient is diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as JRA, the choice of appropriate therapeutic interventions would be considerably facilitated by diagnostic and prognostic indicators that accurately reflect the current severity of the disease, predict future severity, and monitor response to therapy. Thus, there is a need in the art for reliable diagnostic and prognostic methods to monitor disease activity and response to therapy in patients suffering from autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. Additionally, new treatments (e.g., therapeutic compositions and methods) are needed for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (e.g., JRA).